Abstract
Preventive maintenance and dental care for college students is just as important now as it was when they were living with their parents, but even though colleges have been offering campus-based medical care to their students for many years, oral health care has not been included in this health prevention effort. Because of the impact that oral health has on the overall health and well-being of college students, and in following the Healthy People 2020 Oral health goal to “Prevent and control oral and craniofacial diseases, conditions, and injuries, and improve access to preventive services and dental care” (HP2020), this study was undertaken to determine the barriers that are preventing the student population at a large midwestern university from accessing the dental clinic on campus for their preventative care. 369 students were invited to participate in this survey research study to answer questions regarding their knowledge of the dental clinic on campus, the value they put on preventative dental care, the barriers preventing them from accessing the dental clinic, and if demographics in this student population influenced their dental health. It was discovered that the majority of the students were aware of the dental clinic, but had not had an appointment there, the students definitely value preventative care, and the barriers preventing them from scheduling an appointment were lack of insurance, cost of treatment, and time. As far as demographics influencing their dental health, the study found that junior students had poorer dental health when compared to freshman, sophomores, and seniors.
Advisor
Joseph Visker
Committee Member
Autumn Hamilton
Committee Member
Angela Monson
Date of Degree
2019
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Health Science
College
Allied Health and Nursing
Recommended Citation
Briese, P. (2019). A needs assessment: The barriers preventing students at a large Midwestern university from accessing the dental clinic on campus for preventive care [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/929/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Dental Hygiene Commons, Dental Public Health and Education Commons, Higher Education Commons
Rights Statement
